In certain countries of the world, principally Venezuela and Columbia, a form of foodstuff that is commonly consumed is the so-called "arepa". Almost without exception to date, arepas are made from corn rather than wheat or other grains. More particularly, they are made almost entirely from the starch content of corn, without significant amounts of the hull, oil or germ which also constitute part of the natural kernel corn. Particularly with removal of the hull to make the corn capable of being ground into flour, extraction of the germ to prevent the ground flour from going rancid, and the emergence of chemical processes for hydrogenating the corn oil content to render it into lard and butter substitutes, the remaining starch content has come to be the principal constituent of arepas. Recently, because of the increased attention being paid to good nutrition and the relatively poor food value of this starch, there have been efforts to add food supplements and/or to make the flour to include some or all of the parts of the natural kernels that had come to be eliminated. However, so far, attempts to return part of the germ and/or oil have proved unacceptable because the resulting arepa is yellowish and tends to show black spots on the surface. Acceptance of arepas made by this process is poor because the consuming public currently requires that finished arepas be almost pure white in color with a very smooth texture and an unblemished surface.
Arepas, which commonly (particularly in Venezuela and Columbia) are cooked in individual homes or neighborhood food markets, usually just before they are eaten, are made from a flour that is ground from the starchy parts of kernel corn that is bought in small (1, 5 or 15 kilo) bags in flour form in grocery stores. The flour is combined with water and some salt in a ratio typically of about 1 Kg of flour to 1.3 Liters of water to 15 grams of salt and is mixed for about 1.5 minutes to form a dough. The dough is formed by hand into spherical balls which are then pressed to form a solid that is shaped more or less like that which would result if one were to cut shallow spheroid sections of equal circular base dimensions from such spheres and abut the circular bases of two such sections to each other. Each of the resulting dough pieces is substantially round in horizontal cross-section and about 9-10 cm. (3-31/2") in diameter, about 2.5 cm (1") thick at the center, and 90-125 grams (4 oz.) in weight. Most important, they are distinctly convex on both the top and bottom surfaces. In other words, they are substantially bilaterally symmetrical both with respect to the horizontal plane described by the circle which forms the circumference of the horizontal mid-plane and also with respect to the axis of that circle. They are then cooked for 14-18 minutes in reflective or convective heat, with minimal or no conductive heat being applied in order not to burn the outer surface. At that point, the outer surface layer is cooked throughout, and is nearly white in color and of fine texture, while the interior remains substantially uncooked dough. While still hot, the outer surface layer is broken through, typically using one's finger, with which the still doughy center is scooped out and either discarded or eaten, and the arepa is filled with meat, vegetables, grated cheese, etc. and eaten. The nutritional value of the filled arepa derives primarily from the filler, however, since the arepa itself is substantially entirely corn starch.
The forming of the arepa from raw dough to date has only been done successfully in significant quantities by hand. Indeed, it is said in the industry that it is not possible to automate such processes. This is because of the inherent characteristics of the very starchy flour, which produces a dough that is very sticky, and the marketplace commitment to its unique double-convex shape.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide automated means for making arepas.
Another object of this invention is to provide such means for the complete preparation of arepas through the formation and cooking stages.
Still another object of this invention is to provide means for satisfying one or more of the foregoing objectives that is susceptible to processing flour of improved nutritional value.